1. Field of the Invention
The field of the disclosure relates generally to aviation fuel route planning.
2. Background Art
Aviation fuel is available at Fixed Based Operators (FBOs), located at airports. Fuel costs vary by region and airport and, because of price volatility, are difficult to plan. There are approximately 7,000 FBOs in the USA. In 2006, these FBOs dispensed an estimated 1.4 billion gallons of aviation fuel in the USA, representing $6.3 Billion in revenues.
Cost of fuel for operating a general aviation aircraft has increased from 32% (2007) of the operation budget to 70% (2008) in one year. With the probability of fuel prices continuing to increase, flight department managers are looking for ways to maximize efficiencies and reduce their fuel cost. According to Conklin & de Decker, fuel cost for a Cessna Citation CJ2 (a small corporate aircraft), flying a typical 485 hours per year, is around $337,000 per year (data as of 2007).
In 2007, an estimated 190,100 general aviation aircraft will be in active use in the U.S.A. According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), 27,400 corporations owned at least one fixed wing aircraft in the U.S.A. The total aviation expenditures of all corporations with less than 2 aircraft are approximately $12.5 Billion. In the U.S.A., there are approximately 2,880 corporate flight departments that own more than 2 aircraft. On average, these flight departments own 3.3 aircraft and employ 10 people. These multi-aircraft flight departments combined spend $4.3 Billion to manage, operate, and maintain their 9,400 aircraft. The average budget is $545,000 per aircraft per year. Aside from aircraft owned by corporate entities, there are more than 153,000 aviation enthusiasts that own a private aircraft. Private aircraft owners spend more than $6.1 Billion per year. Like aircraft owned by businesses, private aircraft owners also purchase their aviation fuel at FBOs.
Currently, there is no central repository where day-to-day, cost-responsive fuel information comes together as a coherent whole. As a result, the supply and demand of aviation fuel lacks coordination and efficiency, which makes flying more expensive. To find a reliable fuel supply at the lowest possible cost is almost impossible because the information is fragmented, dispersed, and not readily accessible. Owners of small aircraft and dispatchers in corporate flight departments currently must call or email all the FBOs in a given area to request details of current fuel prices and what discounts are available. Especially on multi-stop missions, this effort is excessively time consuming and can become an overwhelming burden in planning flight operations.
Additionally, when planning flight operations, flight planners must also do a considerable amount of research to find airports that meet the aircrafts requirements for landing and takeoff distances, how far they are away from their final destination and a myriad of other information required to fly safely into a specific airport. For instance, according to the FAA, there are approximately 19,850 public and private airports in the U.S.A., of which 8,770 have paved runways.
Although there are websites that gather and publish some aviation fuel prices at airports, there is no system that integrates this information with geospatial mapping in fuel route planning. Moreover, these websites do not determine qualified airports based on the range of the aircraft and the flight trajectory from an origin airport.